The many strings to Sheffield United’s bow has Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe on red alert

It’s the San Siro to Bramall Lane for Newcastle United as they head for South Yorkshire on Sunday but boss Eddie Howe is making sure that mentally his side are as prepared for Sheffield United as they were for AC Milan.

Howe’s side ame away with a commendable 0-0 draw from Milan on Wednesday night, and while this isn’t a vintage Rossoneri team, an away point in their first Champions League match in over 20 years is not to be sniffed at.

The challenge next up for the moneybags Magpies is quite different as they face a Blades team with one point to their name following promotion from the Championship.

However, there have been plenty of signs of positivity in performances by Paul Heckingbottom’s men, particularly in losing narrowly to Man City and again last week at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where it took two added-time goals for Spurs to snatch the three points.

Howe knows his players will have a fight on their hands at the Lane on Sunday and he has talked up the different strengths the Blades have, despite their lack of points on the board, so far.

And having ended a three-match losing streak by edging past Brentford last weekend, Howe is getting his players up for a similar battle.

“It’ll be a difficult game, I think Bramall Lane is a very tough place to go, any time of the year,” he said.

“They are a good team, a direct team. They will ask us questions physically. They have good athleticism, are a counter-attacking team as well, are good at set pieces, so yeah, they’ve got a lot of areas in their team that can hurt us if we’re not right.

“The important thing for us is to approach the game in the same way we did the Brentford match, where we were spot on in our mindset, spot on in our importance of the game. Mentally, we did really well. Maybe it wasn’t a magnificent display but we did enough to get the job done and we’re going to have to get all the basics right if we’re going to compete in this game.”

United will be without Oli McBurnie for the match against Newcastle, following the striker’s controversial red card in last week’s defeat to Tottenham.

Midfielders Joe Willock and Joelinton are both still missing through injury for the Magpies.